Packaging or crating structure



May 23, 1933. H. C. WAY

PACKAGING OR CRATING STRUCTURE Filed March 5, 1931 Patent ed. May 23, 1933 HARRY 0. WAY, or wnannm wnsr VIRGINIA PACKAGING OR CRATING S'.I"IIRIJ'C'J! TIRE Application filed March 5,

1931. Serial m. 520,395.

My present invention relates to the packtrated in Figures land .2, and the lateral aging of articles for transportatiomstorage 1 and the like, and my purpose, general y speaking, is to provide a simple, inexpensive crating structure by means of which articles maybe packaged or crated in a thoroughly efllcient compact manner expeditiously and at relatively low cost. I With'the foregoing and other purposes in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in'the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims.

Inthe drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of the elements of my improved packaging or cratin structure. I ,7

igure 2 is a similar view of the other element of said structure. 7

Figure 3 is a perspective View of a package or crate formed by means of the elements illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4+4 v of Figure 3,; and

Figure 5 is a section on the l1ne.55 of 'Figure3.

Referring to the drawing in detail, it will be observed that my improved packaging-or of coo eratingframe elements designated as A, an B, respectively, which are rolled,

pressed or otherwise-formed from sheet metal :7

into channel or. U-shaped cross section and which maybe of any dimensions desired, de-

articles to be packaged or crated. Eachframe element is inclusive of a side wall 10 and a pair of lateral flanges 12, 12,

said elements is formed of such cross sectional size as to fit snugly within the other.

Forconvenience in forming, storing and shippingthe frameelements-the same preferably are formed initiallystraight, as illusinwardly."

I ments is formed of slightly less cross sectional crating structure consists essentially of a pair at any desired number of points spaced along I mentioned or larger frame element is propending, of course, upon the nature of the and in. accordance with the invention one of flanges12,-12;thereof are notched as indicated at 14whereby the elements are adapted That is tolsay, the elements A and B are adapted tobe bent into U-shape as illustrated in Figure 3, each to embrace-an end and two sides of a number of articles C to be packaged orflcrated, and to this end the flanges 12, 12 o of each frame element arenotched as indicated at points suitably spaced to divide each frame element intoa medial section a and two outer sections b, b, whereby the latter .sections are readily adapted to be bent at right angles to thesection a and parallel to each other with the flanges 12, 12 directed The frame elements A and B, preferably are formed of a length and are notched at points such thatwhen the same are bent intoU-shape the sections a substantially equal the width of the articles C to be packaged or crated, and the sections 6, b substantiallyequal the length of thearticles, and, as is of course under-' stood, the distance between the flanges 12, 12

is vpredetermined to substantially equal the height of the articles C. v I

As heretofore stated, one of the frame elesize than the other so as to fit within the latter frame element, and in accordance with the invention the side wall 10 of the first mentionedor smaller frame element is provided each ofv the sections 6, 6 thereof with U-shaped slits forming tongues 16 which are ada ted to be bent outward from said wall. 8n the other hand, the side wall 10 of the second ing relation to the articles C, whereb latter are securely and effectively hel the frame element, and the same then is applied to the articles C with the section a disposed at one end of the articles, the sections 6, b disposed at the sides of the articles, and with the flanges 12, 12 extending inwardly in overlying relation to the marginal top and bottom portions of the articles. The larger frame element then is bent into U-shape and applied to the articles in like manner with the section (1 thereof dis osed at the oppositeend of the articles and with the sections 1), I) thereof receiving and embracing the corresponding sections of the smaller frame element and with the tongues 16 of the smaller frame element extending through the slots 18 of the outer frame element. Finally, said tongues are bent over against the outer face of' the side wall 10 of the outer frame element with the manifest result that the two frame elements are locked together one in embracing relation to the other and'both in embracthe in a packaged or crated relation.

By reason of forming the sections 6, b of the respective frame elements to approximate the length of the crate or package, much greater-strength and rigidity is imparted to the latter than would be afforded in the event the said sections 6, 6 had only a relatively short amount of overlap at their ends,

although the latter arrangement may be employed if desired. Moreover, by the use of a plurality of ton gues 16 to connect each related pair of the sections 6, b the strength and rigidity of the structure is increased over 'the'employment of only a single tongue to connect each pair of said sections, and the provision of plural tongues and slots furtherj more affords the very material advantage of permitting any given pair of the frame elemen-ts-to be-nsed for packaging or crating articles which may be of various lengths, since any one or more of the tongues may be eng-aged with different of the slots whereby theeflective length of the crating structure may thus readily be increased or decreased.

Depending upon the nature of the articles C to be packaged or crated, the height of the side walls 10 and the width of the flanges 12,

12 of the frameelements maybe varied withi nrelatively wide limits, and as will be understood, of course, the use of protective sheets of stiff paper, cardboard or the like, as indicated at 20 in Figure l, to cover the exposed 'facesof the articles and to be confined at their only slightly more space than the articles Omposingthe package or crate, the package or crateis capable of being formed readily and easily in an exceptionally short space "of time, and is equally as readily and easily capable of being disassembled, the package or crate is strong and durable and fully capable of withstanding rough handling, and the frame elements serve effectively to protect the corners and edges of the packed or crated articles against damage.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings it is believed that the construction, manner of using and the advantages of my invention will be readily understood. It is desired to point out, however, that while only a single specific embodiment of my invention has been illustrated and described, the same is capable of embodiment in specifically different structural arrangements within the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

, 1. A structure for packaging articles comprising a pair of U-shaped frame elements of inwardly opening U-shaped cross section each adapted to embrace an end and two sides of the articles to be packaged or crated, each frame element being inclusive of said elements each having a slot and the side sections of the other of said elements each having a tongue to be engaged through the slots of the other element, respectively, and

to be bent overagainst the outer faces of the slotted sections of the first mentioned element to lock the frame elements in assembly with each other.

2. A structure for packaging or crating articles comprising a pair of U shaped frame elements of inwardly opening U-sl1aped cross section each adapted to embrace an end and two sides of the articles to be packaged or crated, each frame element being inclusive of side sections and the side sections of one of said elements being formed to receive the side sections of the other of said elements in nested relation, the side sections of one of'sa-id elements each having a plurality of slots spaced therealong and the side sections of the other o fsaid elements eachlhaving a plurality of tongues spaced therealong for selective engagement through the slots of the first mentioned element to adapt the elements to be locked in assembly with each other in embracing engagement with articles ofzdifferent length 3. A structure for packaging or crating articles comprising a pair of U-shaped frame elements of inwardly opening U-shaped cross section each adapted to embrace an end and two sides of the articles to be packaged or crated, each frame element being inclusive of side sections and the side sections of one of said elements being formed to receive the side sections of the other of said elements in nested relation, the side sections of one of said elements each having a slot and the side sections of the other of said elements each having a tongue to be engaged through the slots of the other element, respectively, and to be bent over against the outer faces of the slotted sections of the first mentioned element to lock the frame elements in assembly with each other, said frame elements each being formed initially straight and being notched to facilitate bending of the same into U-shape.

4. A structure for packaging or crating articles comprisingla pair of straight channel elements each inclusive of a side wall and a pair of lateral flanges extending therefrom, one of said channel elements being formed of across sectional size for nested relation within the other, the lateral flanges of each frame element being notched to divide each frame element into a medial section and a pair of outer sections adapted to be bent at right angles to the medial section with the flanges of the sections directed inwardly, each outer section of the larger frame element having a I plurality of slots in the side wall thereof, and.

each outer section of the smaller frame element having a plurality of integral tongue formations to be passed through said slots and to be bent over against the outer faces of the slottedsections to lock the frame elements in assembly with each. other.

5. A structure for packaging or crating articles comprising a pair of U-shaped frame elements of inwardly opening U-shaped cross section each adapted to embrace an end and two sides of the articles to be packaged or crated, each frame element being inclusive of side sections and the side sections of one of said elements being formed to receive the 40 side sections of the other of said elements in nested relation, and means for fastening the 7 side sections of the respective frame elements together.

6. A structure for packaging or crating.

articles comprisin a pair of U-shaped frame elements of inwar ly opening U-shaped cross section, each to embrace an end and two sides of the articles to be packaged or crated, each frame element being inclusive of side sections and the side sections of one of said elements being formed to receive the side sections of the other of said elements in nested relation for sliding adjustments, and cooperating Iastening formations on the side sections of said elements operable to fasten the same together in different relatively adjusted positions thereof.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

V HARRY 0. WAY. 

